ABSTRACT
This, then, is a very simple picture of a trust and beyond this it is not easy to make general statements about the nature of a trust without also explaining the one or
more exceptions that exist to nearly every rule. The law of trusts is not something that can be neatly dissected nor can its principles be safely pigeonholed. Perhaps the best way to understand it is through an analysis of the substantive law without recourse to a priori definitions and assumptions that may prove wholly inadequate in explaining how the unique legal concept of the trust actually works in practice. With that in mind, the first topics to consider are the requirements imposed by general statute law and general principles of common law for the creation of a valid trust.
